This invention relates to a combination lamp in which a plurality of lamps are provided as one unit, and more particularly to a vehicle lamp in which the lens of a plurality of lamps are provided as one unit.
A vehicle lamp has been proposed such that, as in the case of a rear combination lamp employed as a lamp of an automobile, a plurality of lamp chambers are formed in a lamp body, and the lenses of the lamps including the lamp chambers are provided as one unit which is mounted on an opening of the lamp body. In this case, the lenses of the lamps have joining legs along the peripheries thereof in such a manner that they are extended inwardly. The outer side surfaces of the joining legs are joined to one another, so that the plurality of lens are provided as one unit having one surface.
When, in the above-described vehicle lamp, the lenses provided as one unit are mounted on the opening of the lamp body, the joining legs of the lenses, which have been provided as one unit, are arranged at the boundaries of the lamp chambers formed in the lamp body. Therefore, when a part of a light beam from the light bulb in one of the lamp chambers is emitted to the lamp made up of an adjacent lamp chamber, sometimes the part of the light beam is applied to the lens through the lens joining leg arranged at the boundary, and passed through the lens, thus coming out of the vehicle lamp. When the part of the light beam thus applied comes out of the lens of the adjacent lamp, a part of the lamp which is not turned on may appear bright when it should not appear bright. This means that the vehicle lamp is not reliable. In the case where the adjacent lamps are different in color, the color of the lens of the lamp turned on mixes with the color of the lens of the lamp which is adjacent thereto; that is, the vehicle lamp looks more unattractive.
In the case where, the vehicle lamp is not turned on, and the insides of the lamp chambers of those lamps forming the vehicle lamp are observed, the lens joining legs and the inner surface of the lamp body can be observed. Since the lens joining legs have a different in reflection factor from the inner surface of the lamp body which is employed as a reflector, the lens joining legs look darker than the other parts of the lamp body. Thus, the lens joining legs can not be distinguished in external appearance from the shades which are formed by the uneven parts of the lamp body. Hence, when the vehicle lamp is not turned on, the vehicle lamp looks more unattractive.